Noted gunsmith Dave Tooley saw our coverage of Accuracy International (AI) “Skins” in the Daily Bulletin, and he wanted to inform our readers about updates to AI’s AX line of rifles.
Updated 2012 AI AX Rifle for PSRII
Dave wrote: “As you know I do AI’s smithing in this country. Attached is a picture of the latest version of the AX rifle. This is what was submitted to SOCOM for PSRII the first of January. AI has incorporated a right-hand hinge to make the rifle more compact when folded. There are some other major improvements. First, the way the rails lock up on the tube now completely eliminates any chance of movement (that’s important for lasers and other things). The buttstock is now considerably lighter than the older version, and it now uses VS push buttons, which I think are more user-friendly.”
CLICK for FULL-SCREEN Photo
New Barrel Swap Kit
The most significant improvement to the AX, according to Tooley, is the ability for the operator to change barrels with minimal tools. Tooley explains: “The complete barrel change tool-kit is one 4mm Allen wrench stored in the cheek piece. If you look at the picture you will see a screw about midway under the receiver. Loosen two captured screws under the forearm and the tube comes off. Then loosen the screw under the receiver and unscrew the barrel. This is dead simple and it works. I’ve tested six rifles with a total of 10 barrels and there were no issues. This is a great precision sniper rifle.”
Editor’s NOTE: Though the product has some shortcomings, we wanted to show you guys the Hyskore Bench Beast Coaxial Competition Rest because it has some interesting engineering features (such as the scissors-jack primary elevator). The front bag holder won’t accept very wide fore-ends, and the high sides of the rear rest compromise your ability to get in close to the gun and work the rear controls while aiming. Still, there are few integrated front/rear rests on the market, so we thought you’d want to see this new offering from Hyskore.
At SHOT Show 2012, Hyskore unveiled an combined front/rear mechanical rest system appropriately named the Bench Beast. The front rest has a coaxial-type control activated by a long, angled joystick. Hyskore claims the joystick control provides 110 MOA adjustment for both windage and elevation.
For gross elevation changes, this contraption uses a scissors-jack type lift in the front that is definitely industrial in origin. In fact, the Bench Beast looks like something made in a Latvian tractor factory. But this may be useful for someone who wants a linked front and rear mechanical rest that can support a very heavy rifle (50 lbs. or more). It looks like the max width in the front is limited to 3″ so this would not work with a super-wide stock without modification. Too bad. Moreover, the front bag supplied with the Bench Beast is designed for narrow, hunter-style fore-ends. Even to run a 3″-wide gun, you’ll need to purchase an aftermarket bag. While Hyskore calls this a “competition rest”, the Bench Beast is not really set up for competition rifles.
About $500.00 for Combined Front and Rear Rests
The front and rear units can be purchased separately. Exact pricing is not yet set, but the front section should cost about $300, with the rear priced about $200.00. People should note, however, that, if you have full windage and elevation adjustment in the rear, you really only need gross height control in the front (to get on target). With a good rear rest, all the fine windage and elevation adjustment can be done from the rear, and, because of the geometry, a little bit goes a long way. It would be interesting to combine the Bench Beast’s rear unit with a simple (non-joystick) front pedestal rest.
Design Concerns
We’re intrigued with the Bench Beast’s rear unit, since there are few mass-produced, mechanical rear rests on the market. However, we have some concerns about the footprint, height, and overall size of the rear unit (SEE video 1:00-1:10). Ideally, a rear mechanical rest should allow the shooter to tuck in comfortably beside the gun. The Bench Beast has fat control knobs and tall support shafts placed far out from the centerline, on the extreme edges of the rear base.
While the wide rear base provides a solid platform, the outboard support columns and control knobs, we believe, make it difficult for the shooter to position his upper body close to the gun.
The main rear rest control knobs are also not conveniently placed. Look at the video carefully. Better rear rests have the controls further forward and closer to the centerline where they can be easily reached by the shooter’s non-trigger-pulling hand, in a comfortable shooting position. That way a right-handed shooter can easily use his left hand to work the controls while viewing the target through the scope, and holding the rifle grip with his right hand. We like the idea of an affordable rear mechanical rest, but we think the rear section of the Bench Beast would benefit from a major redesign.
Here’s a clever, easy modification for your RCBS ChargeMaster electronic powder dispenser. Many folks use a McDonald’s straw to smooth kernel flow out of the dispensing tube. Forum member Mike S. (aka in2deep) found that, even with a straw in place, he sometimes got clumps, which dropped 5-6 kernels at once, throwing off his dispensed weight.
Mike looked at the situation and ingeniously decided to trim the straw into little v-shaped arms or prongs. This helps to break up the clumps, so the kernels flow out the end of the tube more consistently during the dispense cycle. Mike writes:
Soda Straw Modification
This is a further tweak of the popular soda straw modification as the original mod would still allow Varget powder to collect in the straw and dump sometimes as many as 6 or 8 or even more extra kernels in the pan. It would sometimes signal an overcharge, but even when it didn’t there could be as many as 6+ kernels too high or too low (total spread of 12+).
The little arms (prongs) on the straw tend to separate the kernels into groups of 1 or 2 or 3 and prevents piling and many times the throw is now within 1 or 2 kernels of the desired weight.
Straw Cutting Tips — Mike found the shape/angle of the “arms” is very important. If the cuts are too fine or too course it allows the kernels to collect almost like before but the illustrated angle seems to allow an average of only 2 or 3 kernels per trickle input from the machine. This means that more charges are much closer to the actual desired weight and max kernel variances will be cut in less than half and there will be almost no overthrows.
MidwayUSA’s Master Catalog has been the “magnum opus” of gun gear catalogs. Over 1,000 pages long, the Master Catalog includes more than 100,000 products. This year, the 35th Annual MidwayUSA Master Catalog is available is a convenient PDF Digital Edition. There are over 1,040 pages in this new digital edition, complete with color photographs, firearm schematics, reference charts, detailed product information, and an extensive index to help you find exactly what you need. You can even download these files to your tablet, laptop, or smartphone.
Download the 200mb digital edition by visiting MidwayUSA’s Catalog Center. Scroll down the page until you see Click to Download the Entire Catalog in the lower left. We’ve tried out the 35th Annual Master Catalog loaded on an iPad and it’s very handy. It’s nice to have it on the iPad drive, so you can access the complete inventory of gear and reloading components even without an active web connection.
At SHOT Show 2012 we chatted with Berger Ballistician Bryan Litz about Berger’s popular line of Hybrid bullets. Berger now offers a wide range of Hybrids in multiple calibers and weights. In fact, for .30-Caliber shooters, Berger now offers six different Hybrid match bullets, with weights from 155 grains up to 230 grains. And more Hybrid designs for hunters and tactical shooters are coming soon. Big .338 Cal, .375 Cal, and .408 Cal Hybrids are in the works (read more below).
Bryan tells us: “The hybrid design is Berger’s solution to the age old problem of precision vs. ease of use. This design is making life easier for handloaders as well as providing opportunities for commercial ammo loaders who need to offer a high performance round that also shoots precisely in many rifles with various chamber/throat configurations.”
For those not familiar with Hybrid bullets, the Hybrid design blends two common bullet nose shapes on the front section of the bullet (from the tip to the start of the bearing surface). Most of the curved section of the bullet has a Secant (VLD-style) ogive for low drag. This then blends in a Tangent-style ogive curve further back, where the bullet first contacts the rifling. The Tangent section makes seating depth less critical to accuracy, so the Hybrid bullet can shoot well through a range of seating depths, even though it has a very high Ballistic Coefficient (BC).
In the video we asked Bryan for recommended seating depths for 7mm and .30-Caliber Hybrid bullets. Bryan advises that, as a starting point, Hybrid bullets be seated .015″ (fifteen thousandths) off the lands in most barrels. Watch the video for more tips how to optimize your loads with Hybrid bullets.
Berger is Developing New Large-Caliber and Hunting Hybrids
In related news, Berger announced that it will be offering a series of .338-caliber Hybrids. First Berger is reintroducing the Gen 1 .338 Cal, 300gr Hybrid bullet in Berger’s Hunting line. Berger will also be making a 250gr Hybrid Hunting bullet using the same type of jacket as the original Gen 1 300gr Hybrid bullet. In addition, Berger will be developing a .338 Cal 250gr Hybrid OTM Tactical bullet, with public testing for this bullet to commence quite soon.
More big bullets are on the drawing board. Our source says “.375 Caliber and then .408 Caliber are the next new calibers to be made at Berger”. These are in the design phase, and Berger needs to build a new machine, so the .375s and .408s will not be available until 2013 at the earliest.
Finally, Hybrid bullets optimized for hunting are under development. Calibers would include .270, 7mm (.284), and .308. Specific bullet designs in development are a 7mm, 195gr EOL Hybrid Hunting, and a .270 Cal, 170gr EOL Hybrid Hunting.
Background: Last year, when Leupold introduced its 1.1-8x24mm FFP Mark 8 CQBSS scope at a whopping $3,999.00 price, jaws dropped in the shooting world. Folks rightly wondered whether anyone (other than Uncle Sam) would pay four grand for a small, compact scope, even if it did offer a broad magnification range and other innovative features.
U.S. Optics SN-8 Is Thousands Cheaper than Mark 8
Well U.S. Optics has just undercut Leupold by a couple thousand dollars, providing a much more affordable 1-8X option for tactical shooters and 3-gunners. If you were thinking about the Mark 8, you better take a close look at the new 1-8x28mm SN-8 from U.S. Optics. From what we can see, the SN-8 performs on a par with the Mark 8, plus it features a true 1X magnification on the low end — which is best for fast, both-eyes-open target engagement. The new SN-8 is offered in two models. The 1-8x28mm SN-8 Standard version retails for $1945.00, while the higher-end version with Red Dot-equipped eyepiece runs $2445.00, still substantially under the cost of Leupold’s Mark 8. These new SN-8s should start shipping in June, 2012.
New “Slim-Line” Hunting Scopes from U.S. Optics
For 2012, U.S. Optics is bringing out a series of compact, light-weight “Slim-Line” hunting optics: 1.5-6X, 1-4X, and 3.2-17X. Though they offer a significant weight-savings over typical hunting scopes, these new Slim-Line hunting scopes are built for hard use, and U.S. Optics backs them with an impressive, transferrable, “full lifetime” warranty. Prices start at $1100.00 and the Slim-Line Hunting scopes should hit the market in late March or April, 2012. We like what U.S. Optics is doing with this “Slim-Line” scope series. For daylight deer and varmint hunting, many hunters are better served with a compact 1.5-6X variable, than with a large, bulky high-power scope with a relatively small field of view.
At SHOT Show, in addition to its all-new SN-8, U.S. Optics also showcased its innovative dual-focal-plane tactical scopes. Offered in 1-4X and 1.5-6X, these offer the best of both worlds. The FFP reticle allows consistent ranging at all magnifications, while the Second Focal Plane functionality allows more precise aiming, since reticle line thickness does not increase as the magnification goes up.
If you weren’t able to attend SHOT Show last week, you can still read the Digital editions of all four issues of SHOT Daily, the magazine printed each day of the SHOT Show. You’ll find some interesting product announcements in the SHOT Dailies, plus late-breaking gun industry news.
The DAY 1 edition features the annual round-up of new firearms, while the DAY 2 edition highlights new-for-2012 optics. On Pages 20-23 of the Day 3 edition, you’ll find an interesting article by John Snow on a 6mm Creedmoor wildcat (6.5 Creedmoor necked down — see below). The final Day 4 edition includes a guide to .375-Caliber big game cartridges, along with coverage of the latest Air Gun technologies.
The 2012 SHOT Show Dailies are available online at Shotbusiness.com and the SHOT Show Blog, or just click the links below. You can read the Digital Editions online, or download PDF versions to your computer. NOTE: The PDFs are very large files, slow to download.
Correspondent Kelly Bachand visited the Savage booth at SHOT Show 2012. As always we were impressed with the wide range of affordable, rimfire rifles marketed by Savage. The popular Mark II BTVS is a good choice for rimifire tactical games, and it is also a nice carry-around varminter for squirrels and other small critters. The model 93 ‘Package Series’ rifles are real bargains. MSRP on the model 93R17 XP Camo package (which includes 3-9x40mm scope) is $456.00, while the “street price” is around $385.00.
What really caught Kelly’s eye was the impressive Model 110 FCP chambered in .338 Lapua Magnum. This rifle features a stiff, high-quality HS Precision fiberglass tactical stock with V-block insert. New for 2012 is the .300 Win Mag chambering. (Other chamberings are .338 LM and .308 Win, both introduced last year). The Model 110 FCP HS Precision features a 5-round detachable box magazine, 26″ heavy fluted barrel, muzzle brake, and AccuTrigger. It even comes with scope rail.
In .338 Lapua Magnum, the m110 FCP weighs 10.7 lbs. The .300 WM and .300 Win are somewhat lighter, tipping the scales at 9 lbs. without optics. MSRP for the .300 WM version is $1192.00 — a good value, considering what the stock would cost by itself. The big .338 Lapua Magnum version has a $1549.00 MSRP on Savage’s website.
If you’re on a tight budget, Savage also offers a long-range big-caliber rifle in a polyethylene (tupperware) Accustock. The Model 11/111 Long Range Hunter is a lighter hunting variant that features a composite AccuStock with 3D bedding and a Karsten adjustable cheekpiece. It also has a 5-round detachable magazine, heavy fluted barrel, muzzle brake and AccuTrigger. MSRP for a Long Range Hunter in .300 Win Magnum, is $989.00.
Robert Whitley of AR-X Enterprises visited the JGS booth to review the Oregon-based tool-maker’s offerings for 2012. In the video below, Cary Pugh of JGS Precision Mfg., spotlights some popular JGS products including chamber reamers, headspace gauges, core drills, counter-bores, and more….
We ran into Dustin Ellermann of ‘Top Shot’ fame at the Volquartsen booth at SHOT Show. Dustin is Top Shot’s Season 3 Champion. Dustin demonstrated his shooting abilities with a totally dominating performance on the Season 3 Final episode. And before that Dustin made what was probably the most difficult rifle shot ever on Top Shot — hitting a golf ball with a .22LR rifle at 100 yards — with no sighter shots and no windflags. That’s not easy, even with a rimfire benchrest rifle and $15/box ammo.
In the video interview above, Dustin explains how he made his now-famous golf ball shot, and he also talks about some of the more extreme marksmanship challenges on Top Shot — such as shooting at plates while being attached to a giant rotating wheel suspended off the ground.
In winning the Top Shot Season 3 title, Dustin, a self-taught shooter in his first-ever real competition, beat 15 other skilled marksman, most with much more impressive “shooting resumes”. Displaying poise, speed, and superior accuracy, Dustin proved he had the “right stuff”. Time and time again, Dustin sent “big name” shooters (with years of competition experience) packing. And throughout the Top Shot season, Dustin, a Christian Camp Director, kept a positive attitude and exhibited good sportsmanship.
Dustin is a “natural” — a born marksman. But he’s not just a “gun guy”. In real life he serves as a minister, accountant, lumberjack, husband, father of two and foster father of three. Dustin lives in the middle of the Angelina National Forest and considers himself a Renaissance man.
From Fellow Top Shot Competitor Kelly Bachand (Season 1)
On an NRA radio segment before Top Shot Season 3 got underway, Colby Donaldson said that in Season 3 we would see one of the most talented shooters Top Shot has ever had, while not using Dustin’s name for obvious reasons. Colby went on to say that the performance was nearly unbelievable. When the season was complete, and Dustin was crowned champion, Colby declared: “Dustin may be the best shooter we ever had. He surprised everybody, it was across the board”.
I watched Dustin surprise the other competitors and America over and over again on Top Shot Season 3. I grew to respect him as I saw that his deep faith in God encouraged humility and sincerity that was lacking in many other competitors. Whether watching twelve hits in a row while spinning upside down, or watching Dustin hit a golf ball at 100 yards with no practice shots, he impressed us all at some point. To me, however, even more impressive was the way Dustin always remained humble and showed good sportsmanship towards those he had out-shot. I congratulate Dustin on his win, and was glad to be able to meet him recently. — Kelly B.
Though it is a 20-year-old design, the Oehler Model 35P Chronograph remains one of the best chronographs on the market. By employing three screens instead of two, the 35P takes two (2) measurements of each shot — adding an extra measure of reliability. It has very simple controls, so you don’t need to bring a 100-page manual to the range. The Model 35P features an integrated printer that conveniently records every shot and calculates Average Velocity, SD and ES for your strings. We like having the “hard-copy” output from our tests. This way we can simply staple the our paper record to the target and nothing gets lost.
Model 35P is Back in Production Oehler Research decided to phase out the model 35P Proof Chronograph a few years back. But consumer demand never abated. In fact, the prices of used units started to climb. So Ken Oehler decided to bring back the model 35P, and we’re glad he did. In the video below Ken explains that the Model 35P is back in regular production, now that his company has found a source for printer components. The Model 35P, complete with printer, skyscreens, and mounting rail costs $575.00. Ken told us “If we knew how to make them cheaper, we would … but we make ‘em so they work.”
If you already own or use a Model 35P, be sure to watch the video through to the end. In the last minute, Ken Oehler demonstrates how to position the metal support that holds the paper roll. Putting this support in place can be tricky to say the least. But the video shows how to accomplish the task quickly, without losing your temper.
Another helpful tip, provided by Ken’s wife, will help you feed the paper into the machine. Simply take the end of the paper and fold both left and right sides in toward the middle, forming a ‘V’ (like the nose of a paper airplane). This will then advance much easier through the printer’s internal spools when you load new paper.
Show Report by Jason Baney
Nearly every major optics manufacturer showcased innovative new products at this year’s SHOT Show. And some of the scope-makers surprised us by venturing into new product areas. For example, Vortex came out with a nice, compact Laser Rangefinder, and Sightron released a 1-7×24 hunting/tactical scope. Here are new product highlights from Kahles, Meopta, Schmidt & Bender, Sightron, and Vortex.
Kahles
New Tactical Scope with Parallax Control On Elevation Turret
Kahles has brought out a beefy 34mm-tubed tactical scope with some smart features. The parallax adjustment on Kahles’s new 6-24x56mm scope is located at the base of the elevation turret — not on the side like an Nightforce NXS. It may seem odd to put the parallax control BELOW the elevation adjustment, but when you think about it — this is pretty clever. Locating the parallax below the elevation is very convenient — when you dial for longer range, you can quickly dial the new parallax without changing your hand position, or fiddling around for a second turret. Putting the parallax control on the central turret allows the illumination rheostat to be placed on the left side of the tube. This allows much more scope-mounting freedom — you don’t have a big illumination module positioned next to the rear ring, limiting how far forward you can position the scope.
Initially the Kahles 6-24×56 will be offered with just two (2) reticles. We would like to see a wider zoom range, but overall, this is a very well-thought-out scope. Kahles is also offering a 1-6 with nicely designed reticles.The 6-24×56 is expected to cost about $3000 while the 1-6 should be priced around $2700. Both scopes should be on dealers’s shelves by summer 2012.
Meopta
All-New 82mm Spotting Scope and iPhone Adapter
Meopta has totally redesigned its top-end spotting scope to keep up with current market trends. But we’re pleased that Meopta has maintained a more moderate price-point than most in this class of 80mm spotters. The new spotter has a 82mm objective, solid rubber armor and is available straight or angled. Two eyepiece options are offered: a 30-60X Wide-Angle and a 20-70X standard eyepiece. Meopta’s new 82mm spotter should be available in March 2012, priced at about $2200 for a complete spotter with eyepiece. Meopta has also introduced a handy adapter to allow iPhone users to take pictures through the spotter. This adapter retails for $50.00.
Schmidt & Bender
New PMIIs — at Higher Prices
Schmidt & Bender had a few new scopes on display, most notably, a redesigned (and still unavailable) 3-20×50 PMII as well as S&B’s 1-8x PMII. The most obvious difference on the revised 3-20 was the updated locking turret that is different, and much better than it was 2 years ago. Street price on the PMII scopes will be in the $3500-$4000 range depending on reticle choice. We also noted the very aggressive tactile fins on the magnification adjustment dial. Also shown was a prototype compact, tan 1.5-6x20mm straight tube dot scope. Based on S&B’s track record, this 1.5-6X might actually make it to North American dealers in 2014.
Sightron
New Compact 1-7X Variable
Sightron unveiled a new 1-7×24 scope, which should please hunters and 3-Gun shooters. The new 1-7×24 is only offered with one reticle currently; this appears similar to the Meopta 4C red dot reticle. The reticle features an illuminated red dot in the middle, with a thinner upper post and thicker left, right and bottom posts. The scope features 0.1 MRAD clicks and 5 mils per turn with covered low profile target turrets. We hope to see an improved reticle with holdover stadia for longer range shooting in the future. The 1-7×24 will retail for $799.00 and should be at dealers by the end of March, 2012.
Vortex
New Compact Rangefinder with Angle Correction
Vortex introduced a very cool little laser rangefinder at a nice price point. The Ranger 1000 is rated for 1000 yards, has a great feel, great size, pleasant red-cross aim point display, and unlike any other similar laser products out there, offers a LIFETIME warranty. Along with all these features, it also gives angle-corrected readings for shooting more accurately uphill and downhill. The Ranger 1000 is very easy to operate one-handed and has a nice rubber coating and removable pocket clip as well. Retail price will come in at $379 with availability in May 2012.
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Design Concerns
Here’s a clever, easy modification for your RCBS ChargeMaster electronic powder dispenser. Many folks use a McDonald’s straw to smooth kernel flow out of the dispensing tube. Forum member Mike S. (aka in2deep) found that, even with a straw in place, he sometimes got clumps, which dropped 5-6 kernels at once, throwing off his dispensed weight.
MidwayUSA’s Master Catalog has been the “magnum opus” of gun gear catalogs. Over 1,000 pages long, the Master Catalog includes more than 100,000 products. This year, the 35th Annual MidwayUSA Master Catalog is available is a convenient 
More big bullets are on the drawing board. Our source says “.375 Caliber and then .408 Caliber are the next new calibers to be made at Berger”. These are in the design phase, and Berger needs to build a new machine, so the .375s and .408s will not be available until 2013 at the earliest.
If you weren’t able to attend SHOT Show last week, you can still read the Digital editions of all four issues of SHOT Daily, the magazine printed each day of the SHOT Show. You’ll find some interesting product announcements in the SHOT Dailies, plus late-breaking gun industry news.
In winning the Top Shot Season 3 title, Dustin, a self-taught shooter in his first-ever real competition, beat 15 other skilled marksman, most with much more impressive “shooting resumes”. Displaying poise, speed, and superior accuracy, Dustin proved he had the “right stuff”. Time and time again, Dustin sent “big name” shooters (with years of competition experience) packing. And throughout the Top Shot season, Dustin, a Christian Camp Director, kept a positive attitude and exhibited good sportsmanship.
If you already own or use a Model 35P, be sure to watch the video through to the end. In the last minute, Ken Oehler demonstrates how to position the metal support that holds the paper roll. Putting this support in place can be tricky to say the least. But the video shows how to accomplish the task quickly, without losing your temper.
